02/08/2025 19:45
George Russell feels he only has himself to blame for missing out
on pole position for the Hungarian Grand Prix despite what proved
to be a major change in qualifying. Russell will start with what
appears to be on the face of it, a superb fourth in his Mercedes
given the team's struggles of late, but he knows it should have
been pole position. A dramatic shift in wind direction from Q2 into
Q3 threw virtually all of those in the top-10 shoot-out a curveball
they were unable to cope with, with the sole exception of Ferrari's
Charles Leclerc, who was the only driver to improve on his second
session time to nab a shock pole position. Russell claims he lost
three-tenths of a second after being caught out by the wind in Turn
14 when it appeared as if he was on course to take top spot on the
grid, instead finishing 0.053s adrift of Leclerc. "Q3 was a messy
session," said Russell, speaking to the media, including
RacingNews365 . "We took the smallest step backwards from Q2. I was
only a tenth slower than Q2 [0.224s]. Fernando [Alonso] was
two-tenths slower [0.086s], McLaren six-tenths slower [Oscar
Piastri 0.457s and Lando Norris [0.523s]. "So I'm not going to get
carried away with my Q3 performance because, for the rest of the
weekend, it hasn't been straightforward. Of course, Kimi
[Antonelli] was also out in Q2, and it's not been plain sailing."
Expanding on what unfolded, and criticising himself specifically,
Russell added: "The wind had shifted a lot. The wind was gustier.
That corner [T14] was very different compared to Q2, but I should
have reacted. "I knew the wind was different, and I had much less
downforce in this corner, but that's the reality. I should have
reacted, and that's what cost me. "But you speak with every driver,
and they'll give you a reason why they missed pole, because no one
did their personal best in Q3."
